Jamie Raskin: ‘I’m not going to lose my son’ and ‘lose my country’



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  • Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said on Sunday that he “is not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021” as he reflected on the recent passing of his 25-year-old son, Tommy, and his own role as Senior House Director in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.
  • On CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper, Raskin said that the memory of his son prompted him to accept the request of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to take charge of the impeachment.
  • “I really did it with my son in my heart and helping to lead the way,” Raskin said. “I can feel it in my chest.”
  • Raskin called the January 6 Capitol riots “the most dangerous crime committed by a president against the United States.”
  • Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland said on Sunday that he “was not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021” as he spoke of the recent death of his 25-year-old son , Tommy, and his own role as Senior House Director in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with host Jake Tapper, Raskin expressed how the memory of Tommy, an Amherst College graduate and Harvard Law School student who died on December 31, spurred him on to accept the request of the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, to become an impeachment official in such a personal tragedy.

“I really did it with my son in my heart and helping to lead the way,” Raskin said. “I can feel it in my chest.”

On January 14, Trump was impeached by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives for “inciting insurgency” from the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill, making him the only president in U.S. history to be impeached twice.

Read more: Mitch McConnell tells GOP senators his ruling on Trump impeachment trial conviction is a ‘vote of conscience’

Raskin, who was present at the Capitol during the attacks with his youngest daughter and son-in-law, had to navigate what was the most significant breach in the building since 1814. Even during this terrible attack, which left five dead, the the spirit of his son guided him.

“When we went to count the electoral college votes, and it was the target of this ridiculous attack, I felt my son with me,” he said.

A touching Medium article written by Raskin and his wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, highlights their son’s far too short but very accomplished life trajectory. They spoke with love about his innate spirit.

“Tommy Raskin had a perfect heart, a perfect soul, an incredibly outrageous and relentless sense of humor and a radiant and dazzling mind,” they wrote. “He began to be tortured later in his twenties with a ‘blindly painful and ruthless disease called depression,’ a kind of relentless torture in the brain for him.”

The congressman, who has taught constitutional law at the American University for years, spoke of the dangers of the January 6 riots and their effects on democracy.

“I am not going to lose my son at the end of 2020 and lose my country and my republic in 2021,” he said. “It will not arrive.”

He pointed out, “It was the most serious presidential crime in the history of the United States of America – the most dangerous crime ever committed by a president against the United States. There are Republicans who recognize it. , as well as Democrats. “

The House vote for Trump’s second impeachment included the support of ten GOP lawmakers, including Republican Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Republican No.3 at the conference.

Raskin has vowed that House Democrats will send the articles of impeachment to the Senate in a timely manner, which will lead Trump to face a Senate trial.

“We don’t have a minute to lose,” he said. “It is a clear and present danger for people.”

He added: “We are developing a test plan, which aims to get the truth about all of these events. We are going to be able to tell the story of this attack on America and all the events that led to it. to him. “



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